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USS Liberty (AGTR - 5) |
| June 8, 1967 |
In June 1967,
jet aircraft and motor torpedo boats of the State of Israel brutally
assaulted an American naval vessel, the USS Liberty, in
international waters off the Sinai Peninsula in the Mediterranian Sea. The
attack was preceded by more than six-hours of intense low-level
surveillance by Israel photo-reconnaissance aircraft, which buzzed the
intelligence ship thirteen times, sometimes flying as low as 200 feet
directly overhead. The assault that followed was initiated by
high-performance jet aircraft, and was followed up by slower and more
maneuverable jets carrying napalm, and was finally turned over to lethal
torpedo boats, which blasted a forty-foot hole in the ship's side.
The attack lasted more two hours - killing 34 American sailors and
wounding 171 others - and inflicted 821 rocket and machine-gun holes in
the ship. And when the USS Liberty stubbornly remained
afloat despite her damage, Israeli forces machine-gunned her life rafts
and sent troop-carrying helicopters to finish the job. At this point, with
Sixth Fleet rescue aircraft finally enroute, the government of Israel
apologized and the attacking forces suddenly withdrew. Only then did the
identity of the assailants become known.
According to Israel, the attack was a tragic case of the misidentification
- Israel claims they mistook American ship for the out-of-service Egyptian
horse carrier El-Quizer and that American side brought the
attack upon themselves by operating in a war zone without displaying a
flag - the claim denied by the US Navy. The attack has been a matter of
controversy ever since. |
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| Sources |
NavSource Naval
History - http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/6005.htm |
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USS Liberty
Official Web Site - http://www.halcyon.com/jim/ussliberty/ |
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USS Pueblo (AGER - 2) |
| January 23, 1968 |
The US Naval
intelligence ship, USS Pueblo, and 83 crewmen were captured
by North Korean patrol boats after being strafed by MiG's over
international waters off Wonson harbor in 1968. One crewmember,
Duane Hodges of Creswell, Oregon, died as a result of wounds suffered
during the capture. The remaining crew members spent the following
11 months in captivity and were routinely abused, beaten, and tortured.
As a result of this incident and the downing of the unarmed US Navy EC-121
by North Korean MiG's the following year, the US began a significant
military build-up in and around the area. |
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| Sources |
USS Pueblo
Official Web Site -
http://www.usspueblo.org/v2f/association/associaframe.html |
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Pueblo Incident
- http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Lights/2052/page8.html |
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NavSource Naval
History - http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/6102.htm |
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USS Stark (FFG -31) |
| May 17, 1987 |
Struck by two
Exocet missiles 17 May 1987. An Iraqi Marage F1 aircraft supposedly
mistook Stark for an Iranian ship. Stark's SLQ-32 EW system
detected the aircraft's radar; the only action the ship took was to
attempt to communicate with the aircraft. The ship's Phalanx CIWS was not
operating at the time. The CIWS and 76 mm gun were masked by her masts; no
attempt was made to turn and un-mask those weapons. The missiles
penetrated the hull, below the main deck level, under the port forward
corner of the main superstructure. One missile detonated and the fuel from
both missiles burned. 37 crewmen died; the ship was heavily damaged and
was nearly lost due to the weight of firefighting water. She was saved by
excellent damage control efforts. Temporary repairs were carried out by
the destroyer tender Acadia (AD 42) at Bahrain. She then
returned to the US under her own power. Repairs at Litton/Ingalls took 15
months and cost $90 million. |
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USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG -58) |
| April 14, 1988 |
Struck an
Iranian mine 14 April 1988. She suffered a 22 foot hole in her side, a 9
foot tear in her bottom and a cracked superstructure; her gas turbine
engines were knocked out of position. There were no fatalities, although
10 sailors were wounded by the blast. Damage was actually more severe and
the ship came closer to being lost because the structure of her hull was
severely weakened and she was severely flooded. After emergency
repairs, Roberts departed the Gulf on 1 July 1988, aboard
the deckship Mighty Servant 2. She was repaired at Bath Iron
Works (Portland Ship Repair Facility) at a cost of $37.5 million. Repairs
took 18 months. |
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USS Cole (DDG - 67) |
| October 12, 2000 |
The USS
Cole, during a scheduled refueling in the Yemeni port of Aden, was
attacked by two suicide bombers who blew up a small explosive-laden rubber
raft next to the destroyer. The explosion ,which ripped a 20-by-40 foot
hole in the port side of the Norfolk, Va.,-based destroyer, killed 17
sailors and injured 39 other.
According to the U.S. officials, Saudi-born dissident Osama bin Laden ,
who is based in Afghanistan, may have been involved in the attack. |
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